Our Vows: Presence

Last week I said that I would write about what the vows of the Methodist Church are, not so much as a Methodist thing, but rather as a Body of Christ thing. I think that it is important to know that when we begin to follow Jesus, there are some things that we should be committed to doing and these seem to be as telling as anything else. Last week was prayer and this week is about our vow of presence.

Hebrews 10:25 says that we "should not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but rather we should let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching." So I've always looked at that as the author saying that we need to not give up meeting together with other followers of Jesus. It's not just about our choosing to follow Him. As one of my former youth ministers used to tell us, this is not a Lone Ranger thing.

Every year that I worked the 6th 7th and 8th Grade Mid-High Camp at Camp Butman there was one rule that was always the same. Every year for 16 years I heard this same thing: If you want to go hiking, make sure that you go in a group of at least three. That way if one of you gets hurt, one person can stay there with them while the other one runs back to get the needed help." It is one of those rules that you hear over and over and you know it by heart and yet it is something that is very important to hear.

We should apply this to our journey with Christ as well. That way when one of us is hurting and confused and not sure which way to go or what to do we have those others who are with us to help us along the way. At the same time by vowing to be present we are there for those who are in need of us. We see at the end of Acts 2 how the early followers of Jesus lived out their faith with each other. They were present and there for each other. There was a sense of community and togetherness and a knowing that when things were hard, as they would be, there would be people there to lean on for that much needed support. That is what it means to make a vow of presence to the Church universal, to the Body of Christ. Peace and Love y'all.